How do I squeeze fruit without it squirting everywhere?

October 10, 2007 3:43 PM

Strange question of the day: When at a bar, and one orders a drink that comes with a wedge of fruit, such as a lime with a gin and tonic or a Corona, how does one deal with it? I cannot find a "smooth" way to squeeze the fruit without it squirting everywhere. Should I just leave it alone , or is their some drinking decorum I am lacking? Hive mind, activate!
posted by Brandon1600 to Food & Drink (28 answers total)

With a beer you can push it in with the pulp against the bottle and your finger along the rind, squeezing as you go.
With a mixed drink, if it's a wedge just hold close to the fluid rind up and you should be fine. If it's a slice you're on your own.
posted by paxton at 3:47 PM on October 10, 2007

at least for the drinks that come in a rocks-glass (short with heavy base), good bartenders will squeeze the lime for you into the glass and it shouldn't just be chillin on the rim. if your gin and tonic/cosmo/etc comes w/ a lime on the rim, just squeeze it in and plop it in the drink, then enjoy.

the corona/narrow-necked bottles are more interesting, of course. the lime will either fit or it won't. for the corona, i serve them with the lime vertical on top, and the guest most typically pushes it into the bottle. orange slices in a blue moon bottle (best served in a 16oz glass or a pilsner) are more problematic...i just eat the orange and move on.
posted by virga at 3:50 PM on October 10, 2007

I have always thought that most fruits in drinks are decorative. That is not to say that they cannot be squeezed or twisted, but a rule of thumb might be that if there is pulp on the fruit then it should remain unmolested, but if there's only rind then it should be twisted/squeezed.

Of course, one might be able to use messy fruit in a seductive way too, but that would be for people with more manual dexterity than I.
posted by Pecinpah at 3:50 PM on October 10, 2007

with a beer, I do what paxton said, with my right hand. i cover the top of the bottle with my left to stop any splatter.
posted by puritycontrol at 3:51 PM on October 10, 2007

Cup the wedge under your first two fingers, place your hand slightly above the glass, directing it toward the drink, and squeeze the wedge against your palm. Thumb and fingers should capture any spray.

For a bottle, as already noted, just jam that sucker in there.
posted by jocelmeow at 3:54 PM on October 10, 2007 [2 favorites]

For a lemon or lime wedge with a cocktail: just squeeze it gently close to the top of drink's surface, whilst cupping your other hand over it to catch any wayward spray.
posted by scody at 3:56 PM on October 10, 2007

I drop the fruit into the drink, then poke it with the straw/stirrer a couple times.
posted by clh at 4:02 PM on October 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

Drinks in a glass that come with a lime (gin and tonics, etc) i push the lime into the glass and poke at with my straw to release the juices. Then i give it a swirl to mix it together. I don't like touching the lime too much cause then my hands get icky (yes, i'm a pris).
posted by modernsquid at 4:02 PM on October 10, 2007

Drop it in and stab the hell out of it with your straw.
posted by milarepa at 4:03 PM on October 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

i second the stabbing of the fruit. stab stab stab.
posted by virga at 4:07 PM on October 10, 2007

nthing poke with the stick.
posted by wafaa at 4:10 PM on October 10, 2007

virga: I'm a bartender but prefer not to squeeze the fruit for my customers mainly because I know that personally I want my food/drink products handled by as few bare hands as possible before I ingest them. I always give the customer a napkin to help with squirty citrus issues. Anybody else want to weigh in on this? Am I offending people by not squeezing for them? Some people request that I do it but unless they do, I don't.
posted by sarelicar at 4:26 PM on October 10, 2007

In the case of a G&T, the lime is theoretically there for the oil from skin, not the juice from the pulp, and the proper way to release it is to twist it, but that's something the bar tender should already have done for you.
posted by Good Brain at 4:32 PM on October 10, 2007

A lot also depends on the fruit type and the cut. Lime wedges are made to be squeezed with the fingers, with the other hand covering up. Pineapple wedges and cherries should be eaten separately. Lime and orange wheels are meant to be dropped in and stabbed with the straw (because wheels are stupid and there isn't anything else you can do with a wheel, really). Olives, pearl onions and melon balls should come pre-stabbed on cocktail pins, so you can swirl them and/or eat them separately. Lemon twists should be twisted over the drink, rubbed on the glass rim, then dropped in and stabbed.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:34 PM on October 10, 2007

My choice as a G&T drinker is to just put the lime in the drink unmolested. You can then, with sufficient dexterity, get the slice of lime gripped between your teeth if your want to increase the flavour.
posted by topynate at 4:39 PM on October 10, 2007

Lime wedges are made to be squeezed with the fingers, with the other hand covering up...

That gets my vote, it's what I do.
posted by gummi at 4:57 PM on October 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm with Cool Papa Bell on the lime-wedge issue (same goes for lemons). One hand squeezes while the other covers to prevent spray.

Piggybacking: What should one do when served fruit that you don't want? I feel like kind of a jerk leaving a lime wedge just sitting on the bar, but I don't want to leave it sitting in the drink for too long either (lime has no business in Jack & Ginger ale or Scotch & Soda). I usually just palm it and toss it in the garbage at the next opportunity. Should I specifically request 'Jack & Ginger, no lime?'
posted by solipsophistocracy at 5:00 PM on October 10, 2007

In a G&T, you must mash the sh*t out of the lime with your straw to get all the pulpy goodness.
posted by kaizen at 5:08 PM on October 10, 2007

Like Good Brain said, the problem with just dropping and poking instead of squeezing your lemon/lime wedge over the drink is that then you're missing all those tasty essential oils that mist out. So, I'm a squeezer.

Anybody else want to weigh in on this? Am I offending people by not squeezing for them? Some people request that I do it but unless they do, I don't.

Unless I order something "with a twist," I expect the bartender to let me squeeze the citrus into the drink with my own hands. Most of my sot friends feel the same. So, you're grand.

Piggybacking: What should one do when served fruit that you don't want? I feel like kind of a jerk leaving a lime wedge just sitting on the bar, but I don't want to leave it sitting in the drink for too long either (lime has no business in Jack & Ginger ale or Scotch & Soda). I usually just palm it and toss it in the garbage at the next opportunity. Should I specifically request 'Jack & Ginger, no lime?'

I don't think it's at all offensive to order "no lime" or "no fruit." And, when I was bartending / cocktailing, I never was offended by someone leaving a piece of unwanted fruit on the napkin, or on the bar mat. I would be offended if they made a mess of things, either by throwing it in an ashtray, throwing it on the ground, leaving it on a section of the bar that is obviously for customer use and not service, etc.

Look at this way: if everyone who didn't want the garnish -- and therefore ended up throwing it in the bin unused -- would instead speak up, it would mean lots less back work for the bar staff when cutting fruit before shift.

Besides, a good bartender will notice that you didn't want it and not repeat the mistake.

But a really good bartender doesn't put citrus into whiskey highballs unless it's specifically requested.
posted by pineapple at 5:18 PM on October 10, 2007

I eat the whole thing. Citrus rind is edible.
posted by zadcat at 6:17 PM on October 10, 2007

Hold the rind of the wedge between thumb and forefinger, and squeeze over the glass. Cup the other hand over the pulpy side, to prevent juice spraying everywhere.
posted by Joh at 9:10 PM on October 10, 2007

What would James Bond do, handed such a drink? Certainly not squeeze the fruit, certainly not fiddle with the fruit with a stick. Probably he would just drink it.
posted by IvyMike at 9:57 PM on October 10, 2007

I squeeze citrus into the drink...cherries get dropped onto the napkin. On the rocks means in an old fashioned glass; with enough ice left to nurse when the drink is finished.
posted by brujita at 10:39 PM on October 10, 2007

Agree with IvyMike. It depends where you are, certainly. But if it's any sort of decent place, or you're dressed in a suit (or people around you are), don't squeeze the fruit. It's not your job to fix the bartender's mistake, if they didn't make the drink properly (for drinks that call for actual muddling/crushing/squeezing of the fruit, as in a gimlet, as opposed to just leaving it there as a garnish). I think it's gauche to do anything more than just gently knock the fruit into your glass, although a little discreet straw-stabbing isn't a major faux pas or anything.

In a more casual place, squeeze away, if you want to. (Bottom line: if it serves beer in bottles, you can squeeze or otherwise molest the garnish at will, IMO.) But there's really no good way to do it without spraying.

This is why, if you order fish that requires lemon in a decent restaurant, they will/should provide a little apparatus for squeezing the lemon wedge (one that completely contains it), to keep it under control. (Next best method is to use a fork to puncture the lemon, then squeeze it around the fork so that the juice runs down its tines and onto the food. This isn't foolproof, however.)
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:56 PM on October 10, 2007

Carefully pick up the lime...and throw it away.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:46 AM on October 11, 2007

really? a lemon wedge sqeezer? what has the world come to?
posted by craven_morhead at 6:36 AM on October 11, 2007

For lime wedges split and perched on the side of the glass, I squeeze the inside half against the glass, then I flip it so that the juicy half is inside, squeeze that against the glass, then drop the whole thing in once spent of juice to get the rind oils in the drink.
I like limes

For slices, drop and stab.
posted by rmless at 9:44 AM on October 11, 2007

I simply cover up the wedge with my other hand while squeezing. It might squirt my hand, which means that it avoids squirting my friends in the eye. They really don't like that.
posted by scottso17 at 7:13 AM on October 12, 2007